Life Companions
by Dragonwhisperer
Summary: My first pokemon fic. A mysterious girl is traveling through the Hoenn region with her two pokemon. What's she hidding? What's hidden in her past? Read to find out. Summary suxs just to let you know. R&R Flames accepted, but go easy.Updated Chap 2!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon, just some of the characters in this story and a few of the videos.   
  
Life Companions   
  
Chapter 1  
  
A girl, a seventeen year old, climbed to the top of a rise. It was early morning, just after sun up.   
  
The girl breathed in a deep breath of fresh air. "What a beautiful morning," she said as she exhaled. She stretched her arms up high over her head, and then dropped them down after feeling the muscles stretch. "Looks like this may be a very nice day.   
  
She started down the hill, her waist-length light brown hair fluttering behind her. She didn't stand out as anyone different or special. She wore blue jeans and a light purple shirt with sleeves that went just past her elbows. She also wore a matching bandana on her head. She carried only a small pack with a small sleeping hooked to it.  
  
She reached the base of the hill and kept going along the path. She had been traveling the roads and paths for two weeks, not running into anyone but a few passing wild pokemon. She wasn't a trainer, not officially but she wasn't just a traveler either.   
  
She walked for about two hours, but then was stopped by a passing trainer looking for a battle.   
  
"You a trainer?" the boy asked. He didn't look young, around the girl's age, and looked built more for crime than pokemon training.  
  
She couldn't say no. "All right," she said. She pulled out one of her two pokeballs she carried. "I choose you!" The ball flew from her hand and popped open, revealing a large and very powerful Blaziken. "Are you ready for a little battle Blaziken?" she asked it. The tall fire pokemon nodded and faced their opponent.  
  
The man pulled out a pokeball and tossed it, "Go Nidoking!" The large, purple ground pokemon emerged from the ball and roared a battle cry. "Go Nidoking, take down!"   
  
The Nidoking charged, but it wasn't ready for what would happen next.  
  
"Blaziken," the girl said calmly, "Dodge it and use blaze kick."   
  
Blaziken nodded and easily dodged the oncoming Nidoking. It spun around and delivered and fiery kick into the pokemon's side, sending it flying.   
  
The Nidoking lay stunned there for only a moment, but was then back on its feet, but a little wobbly.   
  
"Nidoking!" The man yelled, "Horn drill!"   
  
The pokemon's horn glowed and it charged again.  
  
"Blaziken," the girl said, "Counter with sky uppercut."   
  
The Blaziken delivered a nasty but powerful upper cut to the Nidoking's jaw, sending it flying again, but when it landed this time, it didn't get back up."  
  
"Nidoking!" the man yelled as he ran to his pokemon. He glared at the girl, but merely recalled his pokemon and sauntered off.   
  
"That might have turned into a much worse situation if he had won," the girl said to her Blaziken.   
  
The pokemon nodded, it hadn't liked the look of the human challenger either.   
  
"Great job anyway," the girl, said. "How would you like to stay out an walk with me a while?" The Blaziken nodded and they started walking again.  
  
***   
  
By late afternoon, the girl and her Blaziken finally made it to a town.  
  
"Lets see," the girl said as she looked at her map, "This is Petalburg city." She looked all around. "Well, guess we should find a pokemon center first." She and her pokemon walked through the town, the girl picking up a town map as they went. "Here it is," she said when they finally made it.   
  
She and Blaziken went inside. "Good afternoon," said Nurse Joy.  
  
"Hi," the girl said, "I was wondering if I could get my pokemon checked out please."  
  
"Are you a trainer?" the nurse asked.  
  
The girl shook her head, "It's kind of a long story. Will you still check my pokemon even though I'm not a trainer?"  
  
"Of course," Nurse Joey answered. "How many do you have?"  
  
"My Blaziken," the girl answered as she pulled out another pokeball, "and a Houndoom."  
  
The large, fire, dog-like pokemon came out of the pokeball. It turned to the girl barked, happy to be out and seeing her.   
  
"Lets take them into the examining room," Nurse Joy said. She led them back and into a room. "Which one would you like to examine first?"  
  
"Blaziken please," the girl answered. "We were challenged to a match a few hours ago, and I want to make sure its okay."   
  
"But you should be able to decline," Nurse Joy said, "You aren't a trainer after all."   
  
"I know," the girl replied, "but I have pokemon, and they do like the exercise and all that's involved in the battle, so a accept for them."   
  
"Well," Nurse Joy said as she examined the fire pokemon, "There is hardly a ruffled feather on him, didn't your opponent's pokemon even touch him?"   
  
The girl shook her head, "No, Blaziken was able to dodge the attacks and counter before the other trainer even knew what was happening."  
  
"How long did the battle last?" Nurse Joy asked as she finished with Blaziken and beckoned Houndoom over.   
  
"Between five and ten minutes," the girl answered. "We were fighting a Nidoking."  
  
"And that only took you ten minutes?" Nurse Joy exclaimed. "What level are your pokemon at?"   
  
"I'm not sure," the girl answered, "Up pretty high though, they used to belong to my parents."   
  
"Did your parents give you their pokemon for when you started traveling?" Nurse Joy asked.   
  
"Uh..." the girl looked away. "No, not exactly."   
  
Houndoom leapt off the examining table and went over to the girl. It rubbed its head against her knee and she reached down rubbed it under its chin.   
  
Nurse Joy was a little confused about what was going on, but when she looked at the Blaziken, she had an answer right away. The fire/fighting pokemon's eyes were full of sorrow and lose. From the position Houndoom was in, Joy couldn't see its eyes, but she bet that the pokemon's eyes held the same thing.   
  
The girl's eyes were shaded over by her bangs, so Joy couldn't see them either. "Did something happen to them, your parents?" Joy asked.   
  
"Blaze!" Blaziken snapped suddenly. Nurse Joy looked at it and it shook its head, it did not want the subject to be taken any farther than it already had.   
  
"I'll just put it into this assumption," Nurse Joy said, "You inherited your pokemon from your parents and now you're traveling the country for the thrill of it."   
  
The girl looked up, her eyes blank, but her voice normal. "You could put it that way if you have to."   
  
"Why don't you and your pokemon go out and explore the city," Nurse Joy suggested. "I'll save a room for you and you can stay here the night."  
  
"Can I?" the girl asked. "We've been on the road for the past two weeks and we've slept on nothing but grass and dirt. It'll be so nice to sleep in a bed for a change."   
  
Nurse Joy smiled. "Let me show you where it is, and you can leave you stuff in there if you like."  
  
She led the girl and her pokemon down the hall and to a door. She opened in to reveal two beds. "This is the smallest room there is, the other two rooms I have all have bunk beds."   
  
"It's great," the girl said as she quickly went in and unhitched her sleeping bag from her pack. "I'm good to then."   
  
"Then I'll see you tonight," Nurse Joy said as the girl left.   
  
***  
  
Once she and her pokemon were outside, she said, "Well, we may get a little more stared at if both of you stay out. Would you mind going back into your pokeball for a little while Blaziken? You have been out most of the day, so a little rest in your pokeball must sound pretty good."   
  
Blaziken nodded and she recalled it into its ball.   
  
"It's just you and me Houndoom," the girl said. "Lets go have a look around." They walked the streets that were now lit by lights. "There may not be too much to do," the girl said to Houndoom. "It's getting late, and a city like this may shut down for the night."   
  
Houndoom nodded as they passed a structure with a very pleased looking person walking away from.  
  
"Wonder what he got?" the girl asked her pokemon. She peered around the wall, "Oh, it's a pokemon gym. Must be Petalburg's official gym for the Hoenn League."   
  
She smiled at Houndoom, "No reason for us to go in there."   
  
Houndoom shook its head and they continued down the street. They arrived at a park that still had some activity going on.   
  
"Up for some dinner?" the girl asked Houndoom. The pokemon nodded vigorously as she walked up to a food stand. "Okay," she laughed. She turned to the large man working at the stand. "Do you serve things for pokemon as well as humans?"  
  
"Sure do," the man answered. "My wife makes sure that we provide for both."   
  
The girl bought some food for herself and for both of her pokemon. "Thanks very much," she said as she lifted the bag off the wooden counter.  
  
"Thank you too," the man said. "Have a nice evening."  
  
The girl walked to a nearby bench and sat down. "Time for dinner Blaziken," she said as she tossed its pokeball. She passed out their food and started on hers. "How is it?"  
  
The pokemon showed their appreciation by tossing the last of their food into the air and catching it in their mouths and swallowing it.   
  
"Maybe I should've bought more for you two," she giggled and quickly finished her food so she would keep the two waiting. "Okay, we should probably head back to the pokemon center now." They nodded and headed out of the park and back to the center.   
  
***  
  
Author's Note: Hey, it's my first pokemon fic. I promise you'll find out the girl's name in the next chapter, I just couldn't find a good place to do it in this chapter. Review me, and I accept flames too, but go easy on me, the last time I got a flame for one of my stories it totally broke my spirit and I haven't written anything for it in a long time. Tell me what you think. ^-^. 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.  
  
(Thinking)  
  
Chapter 2  
  
The girl and her pokemon woke up early and got ready to go. The girl was just about to leave the center, her pokemon in their pokeballs, when Nurse Joy caught her at the door.  
  
"Leaving so soon?" the pink haired nurse asked.   
  
The girl nodded, "I don't like staying in one place too long, and it's so nice out that I wanted to get an early start."  
  
"Well I wish you safe travel," Nurse Joy said. "It would be nice to know your name though before you left."  
  
The girl blushed, "How rude of me. I'm sorry, my name is Rica."   
  
"Well Rica," Nurse Joy said, "It was nice meeting you and your pokemon. Good luck in your travels."  
  
Rica nodded, and turned around and left the center.   
  
***  
  
Rica made it out of the city within less than an hour. When she had traveled for another hour after that, she stopped and pulled out her map.  
  
"Let's see," she muttered to herself. "Coming from Rustboro, I went into Petalburg, and now I want to go down to the docks so I can go to Dewford." She checked the map, and made a grim discovery. "I missed the docks coming out of the woods!"   
  
She clenched the map in her hands. "Would it be safe for me to retrace my steps? Could I still get caught by them and dragged back to that place?" She flattened the map from crumpling it. "Maybe, if I finish taking Route 102 and go through Odale Town and then go up Route 103 and cross the water, I won't even need to take the extra ride through Dewford to get to Slateport City."  
  
She looked over her map one last time. "Yep, that's what I'll do." She put the map away and pulled out the pokeballs. "Blaziken, Houndoom, I need to talk to you both." She tossed the balls and the pokemon came out. "Change of plans." She told them about what she wanted to do, and they nodded.   
  
"I just hope going into Slateport for a little while will cause them some confusion before we head out again," Rica said. She clenched her fists, "Why are they after me? Is it because of who Mom and Dad were that they don't want anything happening to me? Or do they just want to through me in that place so they don't have to worry about me?"   
  
Houndoom barked a question. Rica had known it for so long that it was easy to understand what it was asking. "If they put me in that place, they'll take both you and Blaziken away from me."   
  
The Houndoom's eyes widened, and it shook its head in disgust. Blaziken already knew why they were traveling, so it already knew the answer. It looked around from where it stood next to Rica, making sure no one was coming.  
  
"Guess we'd better get going," Rica said as she got up from the rock she was sitting on. "Time to go back inside you two, don't want to cause any attention."   
  
They nodded and she returned them to their pokeballs.   
  
She traveled most of the day without stopping. By night's arrival, she was nearly at Odale. She didn't want to travel another hour in the dark, it was too dangerous to travel at night in a slightly wooded area, and she didn't want to cause any commotion anywhere in the town when she arrived.  
  
She planned to go into Odale Town the next morning, stay only long enough to buy some extra food both her pokemon and herself with her dwindling supply of money, and then leave the town. She didn't want to stay too long, and she knew the walk to Slateport was going to take at least three days if she kept traveling the way she did.   
  
When it was too dark to see without a flashlight, Rica walked off the road and undid her sleeping bag and climbed in. She didn't want to bother with a fire, and she had eaten earlier while she had been walking. She knew sleep would come quickly, the walking she did always brought it on quickly, but she would still sleep lightly, just in case.  
  
***   
  
The next morning, she woke up and made a startling discovery. Across the road, someone else had made camp, tent and all.   
  
"Oh I hope it's not them," she whispered as she rolled up her sleeping bag. She was hitching it to her pack when she owner of the tent came out, and she let out a breath of relief. It was just a young, teenage boy, probably just starting his pokemon journey.   
  
She relaxed a little and sat down to get a drink out of her canteen and went to brush her teeth behind a bush. When she came back, a delicious smell was coming from the boy's camp.  
  
"Figures he can cook," she grumbled enviously as she put her stuff away.   
  
She was just about to leave, lifting her pack to her shoulder, when the boy called, "Hey, would you like to join me?"   
  
Rica wasn't too sure, but walked over anyway. He wasn't as young as she thought he was, maybe her age. "Are you sure you want me to join you?"  
  
"Haven't been able to share a quiet breakfast with a human in a long time," the boy answered. "Normally it's just me and my pokemon." He pointed behind him. Rica peered behind the tent and gasped. Six pokemon, all high leveled and most fully evolved, were sitting next to bowls of pokemon food, eating.   
  
"Wow," Rica gasp, "Those must be some powerful pokemon."  
  
"They are," the boy answered. "The Swampert was my very first pokemon, it and the Mightyena are the strongest out of all of them. I have Alakazam, Graveler, Crobat, and I feed my Gyarados separately, since he can a little more aggressive during mealtime."   
  
"Well that's not surprising," Rica said. "Gyarados are some of the most difficult pokemon to train, and it's no strange thing that they can be food aggressive."   
  
"You seem to know a lot about pokemon yourself," the young man said. "Do you have any pokemon? I have plenty of food so they can have some breakfast with my pokemon."  
  
"Uh," Rica wasn't too sure about letting her pokemon out, or dragging the morning on. She wanted to be on the road by now, but she didn't want to be rude. "Well, all right, I have two, but they can kinda be big eaters when they can get away with it."  
  
"That's fine," the young man said, "As you can see, I have some pretty big pokemon too, and none of them have small appetites. Call 'um out and I'll get them some food."  
  
"Okay," Rica replied and pulled out her pokeballs. "Come on out guys, breakfast time." She tossed the balls and the two pokemon came out. Blaziken and Houndoom both looked around, and eyed the young man with uncertainly. "It's okay guys," Rica said, "He invited us to breakfast. Uh, I don't know your name yet."  
  
"Oh opps," the young man looked embarrassed. "Sorry, my name's Alistar."   
  
"I'm Rica," Rica replied, not too sure if that was the right thing to do. She turned to her pokemon. "Would you two like to eat with Alistar's pokemon?"  
  
  
Blaziken and Houndoom exchanged glances. They would rather keep her within their sights, but with other pokemon around and the young man, maybe they could relax a little. They nodded and Rica smiled.  
  
"Great," Rica said. She turned to Alistar; "Maybe we should introduce them to your pokemon first, just in case."  
  
"That's probably a good idea," Alistar replied, "We don't want them turning on them for no apparent reason." They went around the tent. "Hey guys." Alistar's pokemon looked up from their food. "This is Rica and her pokemon, Blaziken and Houndoom. I invited them to breakfast, is it okay with you guys if Blaziken and Houndoom eat with you?"  
  
The pokemon nodded and came away from their food bowls to inspect their new guests. Blaziken and Houndoom glance at Rica, whom nodded, and they approached the new pokemon.   
  
"They seem to be getting along okay," Alistar said. "I'll go and get their food."   
  
"Okay," Rica said. "I think I'll stay here and watch them, I don't often see my pokemon interact with other pokemon, so I want to see how they do." Alistar nodded and went to get the food.   
  
Rica watched her pokemon talk with the other ones. Since she knew her pokemon so well, she could pick up some of what they were saying. She knew right away when the other pokemon asked what they were traveling for, when he pokemon exchanged glances with one another and got a little stiff.   
  
"Oh great," Rica whispered to herself, "I hope they get out of this one okay without giving to much away."   
  
"Something wrong?" Alistar was back with two food bowls.  
  
"Huh?" Rica hadn't heard him approach. "Oh nothing's wrong, I just hope my pokemon don't put their feet in their mouths." At that comment, Blaziken and Houndoom turned around where they sat and blew raspberries at her. Rica laughed, "Opps, oh well."   
  
Alistar laughed too. "You seem to have a very good relationship with your pokemon." He approached the group. "Here you go you two, enjoy."   
  
Blaziken and Houndoom nodded their thanks, and waited for the other pokemon to get back to their food bowls before starting on their own food.   
  
"Lets go see if our food is done," Alistar said. Rica nodded, and they went back to the campfire. Whatever was cooking in the pot smelling really good to Rica, and she hoped it tasted just as good.   
  
"It's probably different from what you're used to eating for breakfast," Alistar said as he stirred the contents of the pot. "It's a sort of breakfast stew. It has sausage and potatoes in it, and the broth is mixed with egg whites. It's a little complicated, but my mom made it when I was a kid, and she taught me how to make it for when I travel."   
  
"Well it smells good," Rica said. "And normally if it smells good, it tastes good, as long as it's not a poisonous plant."   
  
Alistar laughed, "That's true. It looks almost done, maybe a few more minutes."   
  
Rica nodded, "I can wait, that's not a problem." (Considering I don't eat breakfast most mornings.)  
  
***   
  
When breakfast was done and they were eating, Alistar asked, "So, where are you and your pokemon headed?"  
  
Rica looked up, her spoon in her mouth. (Should I tell him where I'm going?) She thought. (What if the hunters run across him and ask him questions or something? Well, I can't just leave his question unanswered.)  
  
She took the spoon out of her mouth, "Well, we really don't have a destination, we're just traveling to travel." She had put on a smile to make it seem more believable, and it seemed to be working.   
  
"That's cool," Alistar said. "Just traveling to get away from home is a good idea, as long as you know what you're doing."   
  
Rica nodded. (I've been doing fine on my own for a while, I guess I know what I'm doing.)   
  
She finished her stew, "That was great. Thanks for breakfast, but I think I should be going now."  
  
"Leaving so soon?" Alistar asked.  
  
"Well, I like getting started early," Rica answered. "The sooner I start, the farther along I get, which means the more I get to see."   
  
"I guess that's a way to look at it," Alistar said.  
  
Just then, Blaziken and Houndoom came around the tent carrying their empty food bowls.   
  
"Are you two all done?" Rica asked. The two pokemon nodded and Rica took their bowls and gave them to Alistar. "Thanks for breakfast, do you want some help with anything before I leave?"  
  
Alistar shook his head, "Nah, I'll be fine. You said you like getting out earlier, so I think I've kept you long enough."  
  
"All right then," Rica said. She turned to her pokemon, "Say goodbye to Alistar you two." The two pokemon said goodbye and Rica returned them to their pokeballs. "I guess I should say goodbye too."  
  
"Nice meeting you," Alistar said. "If you ever need I anything, swing by Petalburg City, that's where I live."  
  
"I'll keep that in mind," Rica said. She picked up her pack and swung it onto her shoulder. "Goodbye then," she said waving as she headed down the road.   
  
***  
  
Author's Note: Yes, a nice long chapter, over 2,000 words. I can make them longer, it just depends on how many ideas I have in mind, or if I forget to make a chapter break. Well, you found out Rica's name, and who's this Alistar? Don't worry, he's not gone for good, he's got a few parts to play in this story. Thanks to those of you that have read and reviewed my story, it's good to know that some people like this. Review me and tell me what you think of this chapter. 


End file.
